Bangladeshi capital wears an eerie calm a day after Islamists battle police

By Saeed Ahmed and Farid Ahmed, CNN

Updated 0124 GMT (0824 HKT) May 7, 2013

Gallery: Deadly riots rock Bangladesh29 photos

Deadly Islamist riots rock Bangladesh – Bangladeshi police gather near a car set ablaze by Islamist protesters during clashes on Monday, May 6. Police broke up a protest of tens of thousands of religious hardliners and shut down an Islamist television station Monday after battles in the streets of Dhaka. Demonstrations calling for religious laws, led by the ultraconservative group Hefazat-e-Islam (Protectors of Islam), have been building since February.

Deadly Islamist riots rock Bangladesh – A Bangladeshi protester shouts during a rally on April 8 against the strike called by Hefazat-e-Islam. Correction: An earlier version of this caption misstated what this woman was protesting. It implied she was supporting the conservative Islamist movement that called the strike.

Hide Caption

15 of 29

Gallery: Deadly riots rock Bangladesh29 photos

Deadly Islamist riots rock Bangladesh – A man rides a bicycle past a bus set on fire during a clash with Jamaat-e-Islami activists in Rajshahi on February 28.

Story highlights

Among them are three police officers, a paramilitary trooper and a 12-year-old boy

Police declare no rallies can take place all day Monday in Dhaka

In Narayanganj, a city near the capital, Islamists torch vehicles and fight police

On any given Monday, Motijheel -- the commercial center of Dhaka -- is a bustling, chaotic mess of rickshaws and cars jockeying for space in overcrowded streets with an equally determined mass of pushing, shoving pedestrians.

This Monday was different.

Motijheel resembled a battleground, desolate and destroyed.

A day earlier, it was.

Throughout the day and late into the night Sunday, police and paramilitary troops battled with Islamists who laid siege to the area. Half a million of them, by many accounts.

It ended when security forces, 10,000-strong, moved into the area early Monday morning to disperse the protesters.

Calls for action after factory collapse

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Members of the Bangladesh army pray at the site of the collapsed Rana Plaza in Savar near Dhaka on Tuesday, May 14. The army-led effort to search for bodies has ended nearly three weeks after the nine-story building collapsed. The final death toll stands at 1,127.

Hide Caption

1 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives of missing garment workers offer prayers in front of the rubble on May 14 in Savar.

Hide Caption

2 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh – A white board at the recovery command center near the disaster is used to track the death toll on Monday, May 13.

Hide Caption

3 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Heavy equipment sifts through the rubble of the garment factory building collapse on Sunday, May 12.

Hide Caption

4 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman cries holds a portrait of a missing relative believed to be trapped in the rubble of the Rana Plaza building on Saturday, May 11.

Hide Caption

5 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi garment worker Reshma Begum, a seamstress who survived 16 days trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building, rests in Savar Cantonment Hospital on the outskirts of Dhaka on May 11.

Hide Caption

6 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives search through a long line of covered decomposing bodies to try to identify their family members on May 11.

Hide Caption

7 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers retrieve Reshma from the rubble in Savar, Bangladesh, on Friday, May 10. She got rescue workers' attention by waving an iron rod. She was found in a pool of water, which allowed her to stay alive.

Hide Caption

8 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – An injured worker who survived the building collapse is carried by her husband to collect her wages in Savar near Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Wednesday, May 8.

Hide Caption

9 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Garment workers who survived the building collapse line up to collect their salaries in Savar on May 8.

Hide Caption

10 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Workers continue rescue and recovery operations on Tuesday, May 7, nearly two weeks after the Rana Plaza building's collapse outside Dhaka.

Hide Caption

11 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers recover a body from the rubble on May 7.

Hide Caption

12 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives place a body in the back of a truck on May 7.

Hide Caption

13 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman attempts to identify one of the bodies kept in a schoolyard on May 7.

Hide Caption

14 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Members of the Bangladeshi army and firefighters carry the body of a garment worker from the scene of the building collapse in Savar, outside Dhaka, on Sunday, May 5.

Hide Caption

15 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman holds a portrait of her missing relative as she sleeps on Saturday, May 4.

Hide Caption

16 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives attempt to identify the bodies of loved ones on May 4.

Hide Caption

17 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers dig out debris from the Rana Plaza building as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation using heavy equipment on Friday, May 3.

Hide Caption

18 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman reacts on May 3 after identifying a body found in the rubble.

Hide Caption

19 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A man stands amid the destruction as rescue and army personnel continue recovery operations on May 3.

Hide Caption

20 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman holds up a picture of a missing person believed to be trapped in the rubble on May 3.

Hide Caption

21 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A garment worker rescued from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza building lies in a hospital in Dhaka on Thursday, May 2.

Hide Caption

22 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman weeps after identifying her daughter's body in the rubble in Savar on May 2.

Hide Caption

23 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers move debris as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation at the site of the collapsed building in Savar on May 2.

Hide Caption

24 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman mourns before a mass burial in Dhaka on Wednesday, May 1.

Hide Caption

25 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Unidentified bodies from the rubble lie on the ground as people gather for a mass burial in Dhaka on May 1.

Hide Caption

26 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Workers dig graves during a mass burial of unidentified garment workers on May 1.

Hide Caption

27 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, wears police-issued body armor and a helmet while being escorted to court in Dhaka on Tuesday, April 30. Rana was arrested near the Indian border, and protesters called for him to be hanged.

Hide Caption

28 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi troops carry the body of a garment worker out of the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar on April 30.

Hide Caption

29 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Clothing with Joe Fresh labels lies in the debris on April 30.

Hide Caption

30 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Cranes operated by Bangladeshi army personnel work on Monday, April 29.

Hide Caption

31 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Firefighters try to control a blaze that started while they were trying to rescue a woman with heavy equipment on April 29.

Hide Caption

32 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi army personnel begin the second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment on April 29.

Hide Caption

33 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescuers look for survivors on Sunday, April 28. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society says the chances of finding anyone alive in the rubble at this date are remote.

Hide Caption

34 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman mourns on April 28 at the site of the building collapse in Savar.

Hide Caption

35 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers search for survivors on April 28.

Hide Caption

36 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Volunteers sleep before they begin more rescue operations on April 28.

Hide Caption

37 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers carry a victim's body recovered from the rubble on April 28.

Hide Caption

38 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Clothes lie in the rubble on Saturday, April 27.

Hide Caption

39 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – An arrested owner of a garment factory is escorted to an appearance at the court in Dhaka on April 27. Four people were arrested and four others are being questioned by police.

Hide Caption

40 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives hold photos of missing and dead workers outside the factory April 27.

Hide Caption

41 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Two Bangladeshi women look at a board with notices posted of missing and dead workers on April 27.

Hide Caption

42 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi relatives and workers load a body onto a truck on April 27.

Hide Caption

43 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – An excavator operated by the Bangladeshi Army removes debris on April 26.

Hide Caption

44 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Volunteers and rescue workers conduct rescue operations on April 26.

Hide Caption

45 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers use textile as a slide to move bodies out of the rubble on April 26.

Hide Caption

46 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers look for trapped garment workers on April 26.

Hide Caption

47 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers stand on the rubble of the collapsed building on April 26.

Hide Caption

48 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers search the rubble for victims and survivors on April 26.

Hide Caption

49 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A rescue worker looks for trapped workers on April 26.

Hide Caption

50 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi army personnel recover a survivor from rubble on April 26, 48 hours after the collapse.

Hide Caption

51 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Volunteers and rescue workers assist in rescue operations on April 26.

Hide Caption

52 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A physician assists a survivor after he was recovered from the rubble on April 26.

Hide Caption

53 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Hide Caption

54 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Two bodies clutch each other in the rubble on Thursday, April 25.

Hide Caption

55 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – People rescue garment workers on April 25.

Hide Caption

56 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A Bangladeshi woman shows a picture of her missing daughter-in-law she believes is trapped in the collapsed building on April 25.

Hide Caption

57 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi firefighters cut a hole through concrete during rescue operations on April 25 in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka.

Hide Caption

58 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Volunteers and rescue workers work at the scene on April 25.

Hide Caption

59 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman appears devastated on April 25 after identifying the body of her husband killed in the building collapse.

Hide Caption

60 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Bangladeshi garment workers help evacuate a survivor by using a roll of fabric on April 24.

Hide Caption

61 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – People rescue garment workers on Wednesday, April 24, after the building caved in, leaving a chaotic mass of broken concrete and twisted metal.

Hide Caption

62 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Relatives who lost a brother mourn outside a hospital on April 24.

Hide Caption

63 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescuers help an injured garment worker to escape from the Rana Plaza building on the outskirts of Dhaka on April 24.

Hide Caption

64 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Civilians help an injured garment worker on April 24. Work was proceeding slowly to avoid causing further collapse, an official said.

Hide Caption

65 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescue workers search for trapped garment workers in the Rana Plaza building on April 24.

Hide Caption

66 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – An injured Bangladeshi lies on the hospital floor on April 24.

Hide Caption

67 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – The injured receive treatment at a hospital on April 24.

Hide Caption

68 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – An injured person rests in a hospital bed on April 24.

Hide Caption

69 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – People wait anxiously on April 24 while rescuers search for survivors.

Hide Caption

70 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescuers help an injured person out of the seventh floor on April 24.

Hide Caption

71 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Civilians help out in rescue efforts at the collapsed building on April 24.

Hide Caption

72 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Hundreds watch the rescue operations on April 24.

Hide Caption

73 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – People search for garment workers trapped under the debris on April 24.

Hide Caption

74 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescuers help an injured worker on April 24.

Hide Caption

75 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A body is trapped under the damaged building on April 24.

Hide Caption

76 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A woman is carried away from the building on April 24.

Hide Caption

77 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – A rescue worker carries a worker to an ambulance on April 24.

Hide Caption

78 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Crowds gather around the collapsed building on April 24.

Hide Caption

79 of 80

Photos: Building collapses in Bangladesh80 photos

Building collapses in Bangladesh – Rescuers bring out an injured garment worker from the building's sixth floor.

Hide Caption

80 of 80

EXPAND GALLERY

The national news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), put the count at 14 dead and more than and more than 75 wounded.

Among them were three police officers, a paramilitary trooper and a 12-year-old boy.

Police in various cities reported a total of 18 deaths as violence spread.

Human rights activists say the final count will be much higher -- one that the government may be loath to share.

Photographs that appeared on online blogs and websites show bodies lying on stairwells or cowered in building corners -- bullet wounds to the head or back, or a pool of blood beside them.

To avoid a repeat of Sunday's violence, police declared no rallies and gatherings can take place all day Monday in Dhaka. And they escorted the Islamist group's leader out of Dhaka.

So protesters focused their efforts elsewhere.

In Narayanganj, a city near the capital, Islamists torched vehicles and fought pitched battles with police.

In the port city of Chittagong, they clashed with police -- with fatalities reported but not confirmed.

How it began

The Islamists are members of the ultra-conservative Hefazat-e-Islami (Protectors of Islam).

They gathered Sunday in numbers that boggled the mind.

Photos taken from balconies and rooftops showed a sea of bodies dressed in white panjabis and kufis -- both traditional Muslim attire in Bangladesh -- cramming the streets of Motijheel to the hilt.

They demanded that the government enact laws that put to death anyone who blasphemed Islam.

They called for mandatory Islamic education for all in this secular Muslim nation.

They wanted a ban on statues, and the words "absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah" reinstated in the constitution.

They declared that men and women should not be allowed to mix freely in this country of 150 million.

And they vowed they would not leave until their demands -- 13 in all -- were met.

The ensuing confrontation was violent. And bloody.

Country's direction at stake

What is happening in Bangladesh is a push and pull between two forces to determine the future direction of the country.

In February, thousands and thousands of youths held a month-long sit-in in another part of the capital, Shahbag, demanding the death penalty for those who took part in war crimes during Bangladesh's bloody battle for independence from Pakistan.

Many of those accused of war crimes now hold prominent position in Islamist parties.

The rallies, led by youths and fueled by social media, also tried to achieve something else: a ban on extreme fundamentalist parties.

But Bangladesh is also the fourth most populous Muslim country in the world.

And the radical elements of the religion were not going to sit by idly as those rallies grew.

The Islamists let their presence known with larger and larger rallies and strikes, first in cities outside Dhaka and then in the capital city.

Each time they came out, police officers with batons followed.

Clashes ensued. Properties were destroyed. Lives were lost.

The Islamists' tactic has been to turn the criticism on its head: By criticizing them, they seemed to say, you criticize Islam.

They called the Shahbag participants "anti-Islamic atheists" who deserve death for defaming the religion but who are protected by the government.

And so, when the Hefazat-e-Islami protesters gathered Sunday, that was one of their main demands: put to death these "atheists."

Battles for hours

Clashes broke out when Hefazat activists tried to break a police cordon.

The street battles went on for hours, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas and the Islamists hurling crude explosives and chunks of brick.

Syed Ashraful Islam, secretary-general of the ruling Awami League and a government minister, said demonstrators set fire to the Communist Party of Bangladesh office and ransacked several other business establishments in central Dhaka.

Shahriar Shahid, the managing editor of BSS, said the service had to suspend operations for the day after Hefazat activists set a fire at the entrance of its office.

Blame to go around

The government, rights groups say, shares blame not just for its crackdown but also for muffling the free speech of the Islamists.

On Monday, authorities shut down the offices of pro-Islamist Diganta Television and Islami TV stations after they aired footage of the clashes.

"They came in early in the morning and ordered us closed," staffer Tanvir Hussain told CNN.

"This is what I and many others feared when the Shahbag movement started," said Razab Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Fremont, California. "Does it matter that Hefazat is misguided? Does it matter that their vision of Islam is as twisted as the Taliban's?

"Before, I didn't know about these guys; they were a fringe group that pranced about in Chittagong. Now security has stabilized situation, but I fear it is pushing the country closer to a civil war."

Reminders everywhere

Monday morning, the reminders of the weekend violence were everywhere.